Publisher/Date:
Multi-Man Publishing (2023)
Product Type:
Scenario/Map Pack
Country of Origin:
United States
Contents:
2 8" x 22" unmounted geoboards (91, 92), 14 scenarios on cardstock.
In late 2023, the 18th official “Action Pack” debuted, marking the 17th such pack published by MMP (the first was published by Avalon Hill). This pack is also the fifth “Oktoberfest” scenario/map pack, released at the 2023 ASLOK tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, featuring boards and scenarios designed by area ASLers, and playtested by locals (though not exclusively by locals) as well. This pack also likely marks the last credit (for board and scenario designer) of Bill Sisler, one of the “ASL originals,” a long-time ASL playtester, scenario designer, and map designer who also found time to do the artwork each year for the annual ASLOK t-shirt. Bill passed away in 2021, much missed.
AP18 includes 2 8″ x 22″ geoboards: 91 and 92. Board 91 is the more interesting of the two, dominated by a board-length valley largely covered in woods and brush. The board is a relatively rare wilderness board, with nary a single building on it; the only signs of civilization are roads and paths. The board is also highly unusual in that woods and brush are the only terrain types (other than clear) on the board. No grain, marsh, crags, orchards or anything else. The board would be perfect for PTO except that it is the most brush-dominated board in the ASL board pantheon; it’s everywhere. With brush turning into bamboo in PTO, squads would have a very difficult time getting anywhere on this board. Some SSR would likely be needed to keep some or all of the brush as brush, or to treat brush as jungle, or something else, to make it practical for PTO.
Board 92, in contrast, is far more civilized; it’s a suburbia board. It seems to represent a city outskirts, with one half (lengthwise) of the board dominated by small buildings and rowhouses (mostly stone). The other half (lengthwise) of the board is not settled, and is dominated by two hills; one, a vaguely egg-shaped 2-level hill and the other a sperm-shaped 2-level hill heading straight for the egg. It’s the scenario of life, folks. The board will no doubt see use, though more for variety than because it represents a new addition; there have been city outskirt boards before.
Accompanying the boards are a generous allotment of 14 scenarios (5 designed by Sisler; 9 by Shelling). They are a “mixed-bag” assortment, consisting of actions from various theaters and times. These include the Soviet Union 1941 (Soviets vs. Germans), Guadalcanal 1942 (Americans vs. Japanese), Slovakia 1944 (Slovak partisans vs. Germans), France 1944 (Americans vs. Germans), Germany 1944 (Americans vs. Germans) & 1945 (British vs. Germans, Americans vs. Gemans, Soviets vs. Germans), Luxembourg 1944 (Americans vs. Germans), Belgium 1944 (Americans vs. Germans), and Korea 1950 (Americans vs. North Koreans [4 scenarios]). The mix is a bit unusual in that it only has one scenario from 1937-1941, but 8 from Europe in 1944-45. It also has only one scenario featuring Japanese.
The scenarios strongly tend towards the large in size, with fully 9 of the 14 actions being large-sized, 3 medium-sized, and only 2 small in size. It’s not a coincidence that many of the largest scenarios are Sisler designs (as well as all of the scenarios using 3 geoboards); when it came to design, Sisler tended to be “old school.” Though most of the scenarios are large, two scenarios are noteworthy for their tininess. AP192 (Brush Off), the sole PTO scenario, takes place on a tiny fragment of a single geoboard just 8 hexes by 8 hexes in size. The defending USMC have a mere 6 squads (and a partisan half-squad lending a hand). The Japanese attackers, however, have even fewer men: just 3.5 squads. Indeed, the Japanese have more leaders (5) than squads. This may possibly be a first in the history of ASL scenario design. Scenario AP193 (Hit It & Quit It), an action featuring a baker’s dozen of communist Slovak partisans attacking 10 German squads and a handful of very vulnerable trucks, features considerably more squads but it also set in a tiny map area: just 8 hexes by 10 hexes. Not a lot of maneuver there.
Three of the scenarios have OBA, while one uses Night rules. No scenarios use Air Support.
To play all the included scenarios, players need the following geoboards: 23, 44, 45, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 71, 78, 85, 91, and 92, as well as ASL Starter Kit boards n and q, and DASL boards e, l, o, and n (Elon?).
Several of the scenarios are interesting in one way or another. AP191 (East Wind) is an old school East Front shoot-em-up on three boards, featuring an unusually well-led Soviet attack with 16 6-2-8 squads and a half-dozen T-34s attacking a dozen German squads loaded with SW and assisted by 4 AT guns; they get 3 more squads and 2 StuGs as reinforcements. There’s Extreme Winter, Skis, Winter Camouflage, and Rocket OBA; what’s not to like? The Soviets have to exit 20 VP off the far end of the map; the small number of EVP required suggests what is going to happen to the bulk of the Soviet forces. AP197 (Killer Cats & Easy Eights) telegraphs its nature with its title: it’s an all-armor scenario set on 3 boards, pitting 8 German tanks (4 Panthers, 4 Jagdpanzers) against 14 American tanks (all Shermans of 3 different varieties, including 4 tanks with gyros).
AP200 (Chuikov’s Revenge) is a big ol’ city fight taking place on boards 23 and 45. In it 13 German squads assisted by a King Tiger, an 88mm AA gun, and 2 37mm AA guns defend against 16 elite Soviet squads, very well-led and armed, and accompanied by a half-dozen AFVs. However, the Soviets have to get across the canal using just 6 raft counters. The Soviets do get one big Rocket OBA blast to help them get going.
The pack includes 4 Korean War scenario using the Forgotten War rules and counters, which will be pleasing to fans of that module and not-so-pleasing to non-fans. All of the scenarios pit Americans vs. North Koreans, with the Americans on the defense in 3 of the 4 actions. Two of the scenarios use a single geoboard (or less), while the other two are DASL Korean War scenarios, each using two DASL geoboards. To date, most of these scenarios haven’t been played too many times.
The pack has only been out a bit more than a year, as of this writing, so playings have been limited. Early indications from ROAR indicate that some of the scenarios have potential to have balance issues, but as of now, the most balanced scenarios with 10 or more playings include AP193 (Hit It & Quit It), AP196 (Silver & Bronze), and AP198 (Hassle at Hasselt). By far the most played scenario is AP194 (Not Fade Away), though the Germans appear to have an edge, so consider giving the Americans the balance provision.
Though there are undoubtedly some fun scenarios here, the many large scenarios (including an all-armor one) and the Korean War scenarios may not make it as exciting as some other Action Packs, though fans of big guns have a lot to like here. Committed ASLers will still want this pack for the maps, anyway, so the rest may not matter too much.
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